Apparatus for cooling wire rod

ABSTRACT

Wire rod emerging from the hot mill is coiled and then moved through an aqueous calcium chloride bath in the form of overlapping nonconcentric loops. The wire rod is sprayed before it leaves the vicinity of the aqueous bath and then goes to a rinsing station from which it passes to a device for coiling it into a roll.

United States Patent [151 3,704,874 Van den Bulcke 1 Dec. 5, 1972 [s41 APPARATUS FOR COOLING WIRE [56] References Cited ROD UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] Inventor: Emile Oscar Julien Van den Bulcke,

Liege, Belgium 3,490,500 1/1970 Dopper et a1. ..140/1 [73] Assignee: Cockerill-Ougree-Providence et Primary Examiner oerald Dost 'i Lfmgdoz en abrege Attorneylrvin S. Thompson and Robert J. Patch Cockerill, Belgium 1 [22] Filed: July 6, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 159,684 Wire rod emerging from the hot mill is coiled and then moved throughan aqueous calcium chloride bath in [30] Foreign Application Priority Data the form of overlapping nonconcentric loops. The wire rod is sprayed before it leaves the vicinity of the July 3, 1970 Belgium 42,888 aqueous b th a d then goes to a rinsing station from which it passes to a device for coiling it into a roll. [52] US. Cl ..266/3 R, 134/63, 134/68,

148/155, 266/25 8 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure [51] Int. Cl, ..C21d 9/56 [58] Field of Search.....140/1; 266/25, 3 R; 148/155; 134/14, 63, 67,68

APPARATUS FOR COOLING WIRE ROD 'lhepresent invention relates to apparatus for cooling indeterminate lengths of wire rod, particularly hard steel wire rod, upon its exit from the hot-forming mill.

in recent years, various methods have been adopted commercially for treating wire'rod as it leaves the mill and various, apparatus for carryingout these processes are now well known. The various manufacturers have conducted research aimed at improving the final quali-' ty of the rod, its surface characteristics, the microstructure of the rod and the homogeneity of this microstructure, which 'rely almost entirely on treating the wire during its last stages of forming and on the cooling rate of the rod upon leaving the mill.

In addition, efforts have been made to overcome various difficulties in the treatment of hard wire rod produced by known methods and intended for drawing,

such as by pickling'and hot coating operations. These operations, generally performed in the wire drawing plant, are quite expensive and so it is desirable to perform these operations at the mill. This is particularly desirable in the case of patenting, which, as is known, imparts to the wire rod a desirable structure for drawing so that the final properties will be as required, particularly when the wire rod has a diameter equal to the minimum that can be obtained in the mill, as for certain uses the wire must be subjected in effect to two patenting operations, the first at the delivery diameter and the other, during the course of drawing, before the wire reaches its finalsize.

The known installations for controlled cooling of wire, which are designed to reduce patenting, subject the wire rod to air cooling, with the wire arranged in open coils, with the wire either spread out on a conveyor or looped about a common axis. These processes permit the omission only of prepatenting and decrease the thickness of the scale layer formed on the wire. However, they do not avoid the need for pickling at the drawing mill. On the other hand, they ensure longitudinal homogeneity of the wire, which however, is less than that which permits lead patenting.

In connection with these known installations, it has been proposed to use fluidized bed techniques, which appear to give satisfactory results in terms of the characteristics of the product. However,fluidized bed techniques involve complicated technology and the high cost of new installation, as well as operating expenses that arise from handling rather abrasive materials. Also, removal of the heat imparted to the fluidized bed by the wire requires large installations.

The apparatus'for cooling wire rod according to the present invention is designed to carry out a particular procedure for the controlled treatment of indeterininate lengths of the rod in which the rod is subjected to cooling as soon as it leaves the hot mill. The rod is thereupon wound in open spirals and these spirals are introduced into a liquid bath which is maintained at a temperature higher than 75 percent of its boiling tem- Apparatus for receiving wire rod coming from the last unit ofthe hot mill, the wire rod then being at a temperature preferably between 800 C. and l050 C., in combination with means for coiling the wire rod and means to arrange the loops of wire .rod in an unconfined fashion on a conveyor;

A tank containing an aqueous bath'in which the conveyor is immersed so as to move the wire through the bath while arrangedin open loops;

A second tank also containing a conveyor on which the loops of wirerod are fed for rinsing the loops after they leave the preceding treatment tank with its aqueous bath;

Apparatus for receiving the wire rod spirals leaving the previous units, and for reassembling the loops in the form of a compact roll of wire rod.

More particularly, the apparatus of the present in vention comprises a treatment chamber with an aque ous bath covered with a hood preventing rapid cooling of the bath, the bath being maintained at an elevated temperature, as well as minimizing evaporation from the bath. Preferably, the hood will be provided at its highest portion 1 with a condenser so as to recover evaporated liquid. 7

According to the invention, the above-mentioned hood supports apparatus for dissolving and/or suspending materials in the bath. This apparatus may comprise a storage hopper for these materials. Apparatus for cooling wire rod according to the present invention may also comprise a spray pipe disposed adjacent the emergence of the open spirals from the aqueous bath, this pipe serving to pre-rinse the wire rod before it enters the rinsing chamber. In this way, the loss of bath materials is reduced while at the same time introducing supplemental water into the bath to replace what has evaporated.

The invention also provides for washing the wire rod in a. rinsing tank in various manners. One particularly advantageous manner consists in disposing above the second conveyor on which the open coils are carried one or more spray pipes through which the flow is regulated according to the desired intensity of washing and/or the need to completely cool the wire rod.

So as to facilitate the treatment in the chamber containing the aqueous bath as well as in the rinsing chamber, the conveyors in these chambers maybe of the continuous type, for example, chain conveyors. On the other hand, still in accordance with the invention, the cooperation between the various consecutive portions of the apparatus may be effected by means of other types of conveyors, such as roller conveyors. These and other types of conveyors may also be disposed between the apparatus for forming the wire rod into spirals and the means for arranging the spirals on the conveyor in the aqueous bath chamber, or between the two chambers or between the exit from the rinsing chamber and the device that winds the spirals into a roll.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example one embodiment of apparatus for cooling wire rod according to the invention.

In the drawing, the wire rod leaving the hot mill (not shown) is conducted by means for example of a watercooled guide tube, to apparatus 1 for bending the wire rod into spirals. From the apparatus 1, the wire rod at a temperature of about 900 C. is deposited in the form of overlapping nonconcentric spirals on a roller conveyor 2. Roller conveyor 2 passes through one wall of a chamber comprising a tank surmounted by a hood 13. The tank contains an aqueous bath 4 constituted by an aqueous solution of calcium chloride maintained at a temperature of 160 C.

The hood 13 has at its upper portion a condenser 14 and is also provided with a storage chamber 15 for calcium chloride to be dissolved in the bath. 7

An inclined endless chain conveyor 5 is immersed in the bath 4. The coiled wire rod delivered by the roller conveyor 2 passes downwardly through a guide cone 3 through bath 4 and onto the lower end of the inclined conveyor 5.

At the upper end of conveyor 5, the loops of wire rod emerge from the aqueous solution and are subjected, while still in the first chamber, to a pre-rinse with boiling water under pressure by means ofa spray pipe 16.

Upon leaving the first treatment chamber, the wire rod spirals are received by a roller conveyor 6- which conveys them above a second guide cone 7 by which the wire rod is disposed on a second inclined endless chain conveyor 9 disposed in a rinsing tank 8. The wire rod continues to maintain its spiral configuration of overlapping nonconcentric loops on conveyor 9 while passing beneath water sprayed from a rinse pipe 17.

Upon leaving the chain conveyor 9, the wire rod spirals are received by a roller conveyor 10 and from which they pass through a guide cone 11 onto a horizontal surface on which the spirals are reassembled into concentric relationship in the form of a compact roll of wire rod. A pusher 12 then pushes the roll laterally from the support surface.

To avoid excessive wear on the equipment, notably the conveyor 5 submerged in the aqueous bath 4, the parts of the apparatus at these points of wear may be of various alloys resistant to corrosion and abrasion, such as nickel-copper alloys or the like.

It will also be understood that the aqueous bath will be provided with heating means for maintaining it at the desired temperature and with means for controlling or regulating the concentration of salt in the bath, and that the apparatus will be provided with means to monitor and regulate the different phases of the operations conducted with the equipment.

Although the present invention has been described and illustratedin connection with a preferred embodiment, it will of course be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, as those skilled in this art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for cooling an indeterminate length of wire rod, comprising means to bend the wire rod into a series of coils, means to dispose the coils on a first conveyor immersed in an aqueous bath with the coils disposed on the first conveyor in overlapping nonconcentric relationship, means to remove the coils from the first conveyor and for disposing the coils on a second conveyor in a rinsing station with the coils in overlapping non-concentric relation, means to rinse the coils with rinsin liquid on the second conveyor, and means for assem l1ng the 60115 in concentric relationship in a tight roll of wire rod.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and a hood covering said bath, said hood having a condenser in its upper portion for liquid evaporated from said bath.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and a hood covering said bath and a hopper extending through said hood for introducing treatment material into said bath.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and spray means for spraying water on wire rod emerging from said bath before said wire rod leaves the vicinity of said bath.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said rinsing means comprising spray pipes above a rinsing tank through which said second conveyor passes.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, at least one of said conveyors being an endless conveyor.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said first conveyor being an endless conveyor which is inclined from a lower end that receives the wire rod to an upper end from which the wire rod leaves.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and guide means for guiding the coils of wire into said bath, into said rinsing station, and into said tight roll. 

1. Apparatus for cooling an indeterminate length of wire rod, comprising means to bend the wire rod into a series of coils, means to dispose the coils on a first conveyor immersed in an aqueous bath with the coils disposed on the first conveyor in overlapping nonconcentric relationship, means to remove the coils from the first conveyor and for disposing the coils on a second conveyor in a rinsing station with the coils in overlapping nonconcentric relation, means to rinse the coils with rinsing liquid on the second conveyor, and means for assembling the coils in concentric relationship in a tight roll of wire rod.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and a hood covering said bath, said hood having a condenser in its upper portion for liquid evaporated from said bath.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and a hood covering said bath and a hopper extending through said hood for introducing treatment material into said bath.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and spray means for spraying water on wire rod emerging from said bath before said wire rod leaves the vicinity of said bath.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said rinsing means comprising spray pipes above a rinsing tank through which said second conveyor passes.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, at least one of said conveyors being an endless conveyor.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said first conveyor being an endless conveyor which is inclined from a lower end that receives the wire rod to an upper end from which the wire rod leaves.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and guide means for guiding the coils of wire into said bath, into said rinsing station, and into said tight roll. 